Breanna Stewart averaged 20.8 points and 6.2 rebounds in the NCAA tournament en route to being voted Most Outstanding Player as a freshman last season. / Crystal LoGiudice, USA TODAY Sports

by Craig Bennett, USA TODAY Sports

by Craig Bennett, USA TODAY Sports

Defending national champion Connecticut is an overwhelming favorite in the preseason USA TODAY Sports women's basketball coaches poll to bring home a ninth NCAA title.

Connecticut received 31 of the 32 first-place votes from the panel of NCAA Division I head coaches. Tennessee got the remaining first-place vote but sits fourth behind Duke and Stanford. Louisville rounds out the top five.

Connecticut returns eight players from a team that finished 35-4 and won its six NCAA tournament games by an average of 34.7 points, capped by a 93-60 romp past Louisville in the title game.

Given that loaded lineup - Breanna Stewart was the Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four as a freshman - a sixth perfect season under coach Geno Auriemma is within reason.

"We'll see if this team is capable of handling (the expectations) or not," Auriemma said earlier this month. "We'll see if they are mature enough to deal with all the things that are going to be thrown at them. We, generally as a basketball program, don't put a lot of stock in what other people think or what other people say.

"And I don't think you get extra points for margin of victory."

One big obstacle that already has been cleared for the Huskies is that they will not have to deal with Notre Dame on a regular basis. The Irish, who handed the Huskies three of their four losses last season, are off to the Atlantic Coast Conference while UConn is part of the new American Athletic Conference.

The season begins Nov. 8, and UConn won't wait long to wade into the big games.

The Huskies host No. 3 Stanford on Nov. 11, visit No. 6 Maryland on Nov. 15 and visit No. 15 Penn State on Nov. 17. They also play Dec. 17 at No. 2 Duke and take on No. 9 California on Dec. 22 at the Maggie Dixon Classic in New York.